Glaremeter



H. R. HIGLE Y July 30, 1940.

GLAREMETER Filed April 1, 1959 lNV TOR TTORNEYS Patented July 30, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE GLAREMETER Henry R. Higley, Pittsfield, Mass. Application April 1, 1939, Serial No. 265,443

' 6 Claims. 01. 88-20) This invention relates to an apparatus for determining the sensitiveness of a person to the glare of brilliant light sources and for determining the tint of an eyeglass lens suitable to compensate for such sensitiveness.

Many people are extremely sensitive to the glare of brilliant light sources, as for instance automobile head lights at night; indeed, most cause of the relatively great illumination sur-.

rounding the light source.

It has been found'thattinted glasses assist.

many people afiiicted with glare sensitiveness but heretofore the selection of the proper tint of lens for a given person has'had little or no scientific basis.

The apparatus according to the present invention does furnish a substantially accurate indication of the proper tint of lens for the'subject examined, that is, when employed by a skilled operator who is experienced properly to interpret the results. obtained. The invention is based upon the phenomenon heretofore alluded to,

fected by the brilliance of a light source depends immediately surrounding the light source, the source being of seemingly great intensity when there is an absence of illumination surrounding the light source and of relatively lesser intensity as the immediate vicinity is illuminated.

In order to practice the invention, there is pro- 4 vided a somewhat elongated boxlike structure having an aperture at one end through which the subject being examined can look. The boxlike structure is constructed so as to exclude allextraneous light and in the direct line of vision of the subject there is provided a dazzle source of light. A second source of light, shielded from the vision of the subject, is caused to illuminate the vicinity surrounding the first source, the second source of light being gradually increased in intensity until objects in the vicinity surrounding the first source of .light becomevisible to the subject undergoing examination because of the light reflected therefrom. The subject thereupon announces the fact that the objects in the vicinity surrounding the dazzle source havebenamely, that the degree to which a person is afcome visible. A reading is then taken of the intensity of the second light source through the medium of alight meter, which readingwill indicate the extent to which the subject is affected by glare. Now, by inserting differently, 5:

tinted lenses between, the second light source and the light meter, a lens can be selected which will reduce the reading of the light meter to a value which will be normal for the subject un-,

dergoing examination. The lens so selected will 1 provision of means for varying the objects surrounding the dazzle source so as to furnisha check upon the accuracy of the test, will be made 1 clear as the description of the invention pro-1 ceeds. r

Referring to the drawing: i w

Fig. 1 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view through apparatus made in accordance with the present invention;

Fig; 2 is a plan view of the apparatus in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a'right end view of the apparatus shown in Fig. l; v 25:

Fig. 4 is aleft end view of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1; and

Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional View on line,v 5-5 of Fig. l. i

As shown in the drawing, the apparatus is formed with a compartment A defined by a bottom A a top A and side walls A a partition,

A near the left or rear end, and a wall A at the front end provided with a sight hole or aperture A through which the subject being examined. can look. This aperture is large enough to accommodate both eyes and'is provided with an extended portion'A arranged to fit the face of the subject so that when the face is placed closeup to the extended portion substantially all of the light will be excluded at this point. The compartment structure is also such as to exclude all extraneous light, while the interior thereof. is painted a dull black so as to diminish light reflection from the interior surfaces as much as possible.

In the direct line of vision of the subject and near the rear of the compartment, there is located, on a suitable stand or post, a light B having a reflector B adapted to focus substantially all the rays of the light directly into the eyes of the subject.

At the beginning of the test, the vicinity'sur: rounding the light source is totally dark so thatobjects located therein will be invisible. There.

hown

are objects located in the vicinity surrounding the dazzle source (see Figs. 1 and 5) consisting of a series of letters 0 (the particular letters shown being E, H, L, N and which are painted a dull white) mounted upon vertical rods C which are individually rotatable so as to bring the letters into a plane at right angles to the line of vision when desired, or into planes parallel with the line of vision so that, even though the vicinity surrounding the dazzle source is illuminated in the manner hereinafter to be described, the letters will still be invisible, being located in their latter positions, behind the rods which themselves are a dull black in color so as to be in- The location of the letters visible at all times. on the rods is such that, when they are in the plane at right angles to the line of vision, they will all be equidistant from the light source B.

Near the top of the compartment and located somewhat forwardly of the previously mentioned source of light B, there is provided a second source of light E which, through circuit means not shown, can be turned on gradually so as to illuminate the vicinity surrounding the light source B. This second light source is mounted on the rear face of 2. depending shield element E out of the direct view of the subject and, in order that the rays of said lamp be directed downwardly, there is provided a mirror E (Fig. l) secured to the top of the compartment at the lower face thereof immediately above the light source E.

With the lamp B lit at the outset of the test, but with the compartment otherwise in total darkness, the second mentioned light source E is turned on, so as gradually to illuminate the vicinity surrounding the dazzle source and, when the condition of illumination is such as to render the objects C visible to the subject, such fact is announced to the operator. In other words, when the conditions just mentioned occur, the effect of the glare from the lamp B tending to cause objects in the relatively lesser illuminated surrounding vicinity to be invisible will have been diminished and the amount of field illumination necessary for a lamp of given intensity to produce the condition stated is a measure of the elfect of the glare upon the subject under test.

The intensity of illumination necessary to render the objects visible and the proper color tint of lens for the subject undergoing test are determined in the following manner. Just to the rear of the lamp E, there is provided a pair of standards consisting of two parallel flat plates F, F built into the structure and extending from a point somewhat below the top A of the compartment, but above the light source B to a point considerably above the top A Between the standards, there is mounted-a rotatable disc G provided with a series of lenses G arranged in a circle around the disc and each having a difierent tint with the exception of one, which is colorless or tintless. The disc G is rotated so as to bring the tintless lens into registry with apertures f, f

in the standards F and F respectively, which apertures are located in line with the lamp E and a light meter'H arranged in a small compartment H built into the top of the main compartment A and immediately to the rear of said standards. The intensity of the light E required to render objects surrounding the dazzle source visible to the subject is now read on the light meter, the light at this time passing through the tintless lens. The reading of the light meter under such conditions will, when compared with a standard reading taken in the same way for a normal subject, give an indication of the effect of glare upon the subject under test. The normal or standard readings vary for different subjects, it having been found by experiment that the older the person the greater is the effect of glare from a brilliant light source. In other words, an adult having normal vision, as regards glare, is more sensitive in this respect than a child of normal Vision. It is the normal reading for the age of the person undergoing test that furnishes the standard with which the reading of the light meter is compared.

The proper tint of lens for the subject under test is now determined by rotating the disc G to bring a lens into registry with the apertures f, f and between the light source E and the light meter H which will reduce the reading of the light meter approximately to the normal or standard for the person undergoing test. The lens selected in this way will have the proper tint for that particular person.

Referring again to the objects or letters L, N, which are arranged in the vicinity surrounding the dazzle source, it will be recalled that they are capable of being turned out of a plane at right angles to the line of vision so as to be indistinguishable to the subject even though the light conditions be such as would otherwise render them visible. The purpose of this arrangement is to afford a check on the subject, since it is quite obvious that the latter may remember the letters and on a check test announce the appearance thereof before they actually came into full view. Thus,,in making the initial test,- the operator might have only two letters,-say L and E, turned into the visible position when the field is suficiently illuminated, whereas in a subsequent or check test, different letters, as for instance, N and H could beso located. A proper reading by the subject of the letters as they appear, at approximately the same degree of illumination in each test would give'an accu-' rate check on the sensitiveness to glare of the subject.

In order to indicate to the operator those letters which are turned into the range of vision, the rods C on which the letters are mounted are provided at their upper ends with fiat triangular finger pieces C extending radially from the rods in the same direction as the letters, so that whena finger piece is located in a plane extending transversely of the apparatus, the corresponding letter will be in a plane extending transversely of' the apparatus, whereas when a finger piece is turned through into a plane extending longitudinally of the apparatus, the corresponding 1et ter is in a plane parallel with the line of vision, in which case of course the letter is indistinguishable for reasons heretofore mentioned. Letters corresponding to the letters on the rods are located on top of the apparatus in the vicinity of the respective rods which, in conjunction with the location of the finger pieces, will apprise the operator of the letters that the subject will see when sufficiently illuminated. able stops (not shown) may be used in conjunction with abutments on the rods to limit the turning of the latter in either direction beyond the two Thus, when the rod during order to permit the operator to display to the."

If desired, suit-- subject thestint of-the:lensthat-has been selected. Auzwhite background for the lens at this point will be: helpful for this purpose; The operator'can identify the lens selected through the medium of asmall apertur'e formed in the rear standard just above the center of the .disc (Fig. 4). A lens identifying mark located on the disc will appear through this aperture when the lens to which it corresponds is located in line between the lamp E and the light meter H. Accurate registry of the lenses with the apertures f, f can be obtained through the provision of a small spring pressed detent adapted to engage in one or another of a series of recesses corresponding to the lenses and located around the disc in positions to cooperate with the detent when the corresponding lenses are in registry with said apertures.

The apparatus is designed to work from the ordinary house circuit and, since the lamps B and E are of a low voltage type, a transformer, in the case of A. C. current, or a potentiometer, in the case of D. C. current, is used for reducing the voltage across the lamps to the proper value. These devices can be located conveniently in the compartment at the rear of the partition A In the circuit energizing the glare producing lamp B, it is desirable to include an ammeter J so that the current flowing through the lamp can be main tained at a given constant value. Obviously, since the intensity of the illuminating lamp E which renders the objects visible depends upon the relative brightness of the glare producing lamp B, whereas the intensity of the glare producing lamp does not enter at all into the measuring of the intensity of the illuminating lamp E by the light meter H, the interdependency between the two light sources on the one hand, and the independency therebetween on the other hand, requires that the glare producing lamp B be maintained at the same brilliance throughout all tests. The provisionof the ammeter, together with a rheostat J conveniently located at the back of the instrument and in the circuit of the glare producing lamp, will provide the necessary control. It has been found desirable to place a small lamp E in series with the glare producing lamp B, and located outside the compartment A to serve as a ready indication that the lamp B (which, of course, is invisible to the operator) is working throughout the test. Before the actual test is commenced, the compartment is illuminated with the glare producing lamp extinguished and the subject shown one of the letters, say the letter L, to make sure that the head is properly positioned and that the location of the letters will be known. The lamp E can be used toextinguish the lamp B merely by unscrewing it slightly from its socket.

The gradual control of the intensity of the illuminating lamp E can be maintained through the medium of a rheostat E in circuit with said lamp, which rheostat can likewise be located at the back of the apparatus where it will be within the convenient reach of the operator. A reading of the light meter H will indicate whether or not the lamp E is properly working.

In order to prevent light from the glare producing source from reflecting from the top of the compartment into the eyes of the subject, there is provided a rearwardly and downwardly inclining shield A for this purpose. The compartment A is also equipped at the bottom with a door A which can be opened to give access to the interior of the compartment for replacing lamps when necessary and the whole apparatus is preferably While one ofthe chief advantages of the invention is the accuracy with which the proper tint of lens for the subject can be determined, it has a further advantage in that it will indicate a vision that is unsafe for night driving. Thus, if the instrument showed that a person needed a very dark lens, the indication would be that such a person should forego night driving. Obviously, a lens having a very dark tint, while serving to dim approaching headlights, would also act to impair the vision in other respects.

In the accompanying drawing, the invention has been shown merely by way of example and in preferred form, and obviously many variations and modifications may be made therein which will still be comprised within its spirit. It is to be understood, therefore, that the invention is not limited to any specific form or embodiment, ex-

cept insofar as such limitations are specified in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. Apparatus for determining an eyeglass lens that will compensate for abnormal glare sensitiveness in a person and which includes, in combination, a compartment having a viewing aperture, a. dazzle source of illumination in the compartment located in the line of vision of the person, object means in the. compartment likewise in said line of vision but located so as not to obstruct the persons view of the dazzle source, means including a second light source for adjusting the illumination of the object means until the light reflected therefrom is sufficient to render the same visible to the person despite the presence of the dazzle source, a light meter for measuring the intensity of said second light source, and means for interposing lenses having different light absorbing properties between said second light source as adjusted and the light meter to determine a lens that will give a reading of the meter which is normal for the person undergoing test.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the means i or interposing the different lenses between the lamp and the light meter includes an adjustable frame wherein the different lenses are mounted.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the object means in the compartment include a plurality of objects individually adjustable from a position wherein they are distinguishable, when properly illuminated, to a position wherein they are indistinguishable despite the degree of illumination in said compartment.

4. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the object means in the compartment include a plurality of objects individually adjustable by devices located outside of the compartment, from a position wherein they are distinguishable, when properly illuminated, to a'position wherein they are indistinguishable despite the degree of illumination in said compartment.

5. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the object means in the compartment include a plurality of objects individually adjustable by devices located outside of the compartment, from a position wherein they are distinguishable, when properly illuminated, to a position wherein they are indistinguishable despite the degree of illumination in said compartment, and means for indicating the different adjusted positions of the objects.

6. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the object means in the compartment include a pluraiity of objects distinguishable one from the other when presented facewise to the view of the subject but indistinguishable one from the other when presented. edgewise to the view of the subject, and individual mounting means for the objects adjustable so as to present the objects to the view of the subject facewise or edgewise as desired.

HENRY R. HIGLEY. 

